Just bought a 2003 Bayou 250. This thing is just like brand new. Not a scratch on the plastic, frame, skid plates, nothin. Runs perfect.

Guy I bought it from did tell me they never used the electric start....and I believe him. The battery was bone dry.

Per the owners guide, I filled the battery with distilled water. Then put a 2amp trickle charge on it. The charge was on it for about 16 hours. Looking down into the battery you could see the little bubbles so it was doing something.

Put the battery back in the quad and tried the electric start.

It wanted to start but then the battery, or the connections, or ???, made a pop pop pop sound and it would not start. I had the seat off and there were no sparks. Connections are clean. Sound was definately coming from the battery or battery area. I quit trying after two tries.

Do I need to charge the battery more or is the battery just shot and I need a new one?

Thank you for any ideas.

 

i would go ahead and get a new battery i've tried to recondition old batteries before and its hit and miss. money well spent on peace of mind when your out on the trail

 

Yep, just went and bought a new battery earlier today...it's charging right now.

I figure this battery is around 7 years old and the guy at Batteries Plus said these should last only a good couple years. And, the one in the quad when I bought it was supposidly never used.

Hopefully that takes care of the problem. If not, at least it takes the battery out of the potential problems.

Battery should be fully charged in a couple hours. I'll post the results....fingers crossed.

 

New battery did the trick, starts on a dime.

 

some more quality batteries will last a good 5 - 10 years with routine maintenance (trickle charges). have fun with the bayou, i think they are a blast, plus they can do alot of everyday chores.